Damascus: A new group of rebels and other civilians left Syria’s Douma on Friday, state media said, paving the way for the government to declare full control over the onetime opposition enclave.
The evacuations are part of a negotiated withdrawal reached last weekend for Douma, the final holdout in the rebels’ former stronghold of Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus.
State news agency SANA reported the departures from Douma were ongoing on Friday, in preparation for announcing it cleared of opposition fighters.
In the morning, 95 empty buses entered Douma to carry out civilians and rebels from ‘Jaish Al-Islam’, the opposition faction present in the town.
More than 60 have reemerged full of fighters and their relatives and were waiting at a gathering point on the edge of Ghouta for the rest of the buses, state media reported.
Once the convoy was complete, they would move together to opposition-controlled territory in northern Syria.
The evacuations are part of a deal brokered by Damascus’s Russian ally to re-establish regime control over Ghouta, an area just on the edge of the capital that had escaped government control since 2012.
Moscow has said it expected 40,000 civilians and 8,000 rebels to leave Douma.
‘Jaish Al-Islam’ said it only agreed to pull out of Douma after a suspected chemical attack on April 7 that appeared to break their will.
Some 4,000 people had already left overnight aboard 85 buses, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“Over the past few days, most of the ‘Jaish Al-Islam’ fighters have left Douma in four successive waves,” said the Britain-based monitor’s head, Rami Abdel Rahman.
The government has consistently denied using chemical weapons, including in Douma, and invited the world’s top chemical watchdog to investigate.
Fresh rebel evacuations from Syria’s Douma
Fresh rebel evacuations from Syria’s Douma
- Evacuations are part of a negotiated withdrawal reached last weekend for Douma, the final holdout in the rebels’ former stronghold of Eastern Ghouta.
- Russia announced that the entire territory that was once the Eastern Ghouta rebel enclave was now under pro-regime control.
Israel PM holds coalition meeting after objecting to Gaza panel
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of his ruling coalition partners on Sunday after objecting to the composition of a Gaza advisory panel
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of his ruling coalition partners on Sunday after objecting to the composition of a Gaza advisory panel formed by the White House, according to an official and media reports.
The White House announced this week the setting up of a “Gaza Executive Board,” which would operate under a broader “Board of Peace” to be chaired by US President Donald Trump as part of his 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza.
The executive board, described as having an advisory role, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi, alongside other regional and international officials.
Late on Saturday, Netanyahu’s office objected to the composition of the executive board.
“The announcement regarding the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, which is subordinate to the Board of Peace, was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy,” the office of Netanyahu said.
“The Prime Minister has instructed the Foreign Affairs Minister to contact the US Secretary of State on this matter.”
It did not explain the reason for its objection, but Israel has previously objected strongly to any Turkish role in post-war Gaza, with relations between the two countries deteriorating sharply since the war began in October 2023.
In addition to naming Turkiye’s foreign minister to the executive board, Trump has also invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to join the overarching Board of Peace.
Media reports said that leaders of the country’s ruling coalition were scheduled to meet on Sunday to examine the composition of the executive board.
“There is a meeting scheduled of the coalition at 10:00 am (0800 GMT),” the spokesman of Netanyahu’s Likud Party told AFP, declining to provide further details.
Alongside Likud, the coalition includes the Religious Zionist Party led by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) led by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The White House said Trump’s plan would include three bodies: the Board of Peace, chaired by Trump; a Palestinian committee of technocrats tasked with governing Gaza; and the Gaza Executive Board, which would play an advisory role.
The Palestinian technocratic committee held its first meeting in Cairo on Saturday.
The diplomatic developments came as the United States said this week that the Gaza truce plan had entered a second phase, shifting from implementing a ceasefire to the disarmament of Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
